Benn's Grant Clears Big Hurdle

ISLE OF WIGHT — The proposed Benn's Grant development got the Planning Commission's stamp of approval Tuesday in a meeting that ran past midnight and into Wednesday.

The development, which will bring 1,087 homes, medical offices and a retail district to the Benns Church Boulevard-Brewer's Neck Boulevard intersection outside Smithfield, will now go to the Isle of Wight County Board of Supervisors for consideration.

The plan met resistance from residents who said it was too big, would tax county services and would ruin the country flavor of the area. The development would span about 618 acres at a major crossroads in the mostly rural county.

In a vote just after 11 p.m., the proposal passed 8-3, with Commissioners Nancy Guill, Peter Munsell and Rex Alphin voting against it.

Alphin said he's not opposed to development but he is concerned with maintaining Isle of Wight's rural feel.

"This particular development was a pretty major step in the other direction," he said. "This is big."

Chairman James O'Briant said the project, proposed by Armada Hoffler Development Co. of Virginia Beach, met growth guidelines set by the county. County officials years ago designated small areas of the county as development service districts, where future development would be contained. Benn's Grant is one of them.

"By keeping development in the development service districts, we do, in fact, preserve the rural community of Isle of Wight County," O'Briant said. "We keep the sprawl in development service districts, so it doesn't get out into the rest of the county. ... Sure, there's going to be more people, but those people are coming anyway. We have a chance to bring some wonderful amenities into the county, and one of the big ones is improved medical services, and we'll be able to spend our money in the county, which will be a net asset to us."

O'Briant said the developer also addressed the county's concerns by stretching out build-out to reduce the impact on county services, paying more to offset the costs of the development and increasing the number of affordable, or work-force, houses to 17 percent.